Variations of airborne winter pollen in southern Spain

This work deals with the variation in the atmosphere of the airborne pollen produced by winter blooming plants and is aimed to establish correlations between the concentration of pollen grains in the atmosphere of Córdoba and meteorological parameters such as the temperature, humidity, rainfall, pressure, hours of sunlight and wind speed and direction. The work was conducted for two consecutive years (1981-82 and 1982-83). The sampling was carried out in Córdoba (Spain) with a BURKARD sporetrap. The data obtained in the aeropalinological study are correlated to the above-mentioned meterological parameters. Along the period investigated grains were found from Ulmus minor, Fraxinus sp., Populus sp., Alnus glutinosa and Cupressaceae, and less frequently, Artemisia sp., Pinaceae, Urticaceae, type Helianthus and Gramineae. Pollen grains from Cupressaceae were found at the highest absolute and relative concentrations in the atmosphere of Córdoba during the winter, where they occurred almost throughout. The correlation analysis applied showed that the parameters most markedly influencing the grain concentration of most taxa were the temperature and humidity. Alnus glutinosa was the least affected species, probably because of the scarcity of its pollen grains.